List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways

In railway terminology, track gauge indicates the distance between the inside edges of the running rails. Standard gauge is defined as 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), and narrow gauge as any gauge less than that distance.

An illustration of 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) track, in comparison with some other gauges used in Great Britain

In Britain, standard gauge is used for all main line routes and the majority of urban light rail. Narrow gauge railways were constructed mainly where there was a need for tighter curves, smaller structure gauges, and lighter rails, as they could be less costly to build, equip and operate than standard gauge railways (particularly in mountainous or difficult terrain).^[1]

Narrow gauge railways in Britain used various gauges. 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) was relatively uncommon; in his book Railway Adventure, L. T. C. Rolt states that apart from the Talyllyn, the only public railways to use the gauge were the Corris and Campbeltown and Machrihanish railways.^[2]^[a] However there were several private railways, including mine and quarry railways, which used the gauge.

This list, whilst incomplete, details all railways that are believed to have used 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge at some point during their existence.

United Kingdom

More information Name, Opened ...

Name	Opened	Closed	Length	Location	Notes
Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway^[3]^[4]	1877	1932^[5]	6 miles (9.7 km)	Mull of Kintyre, Scotland	Remote line serving coal mines and passengers on the Kintyre peninsula.
Caphouse Colliery^[6]	1988	present	c. 2,000 yards (1,800 m)	National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield	Demonstration funicular railway.
Corris Railway (original)	1859	1948	12+1⁄4 miles (19.7 km) ^[5]	Machynlleth, Wales	Built to carry slate from the Corris district. Closed after flooding of the Afon Dyfi.
Corris Railway (preserved)	2002	present	c. 1 mile (1.6 km)	Corris, Wales	Runs from Corris to Maespoeth Junction with new build steam locomotives based on two of the original locomotives.
Galltymoelfre Tramway^[7]	1865 c. 1865	1946 c. 1946	c. 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km)	Abergynolwyn, Wales	A horse-drawn tramway that connected Bryn Eglwys quarry to the Talyllyn Railway via an incline at each end.
Glasgow Royal Infirmary Railway^[8]	1910 c. 1910	1920 c. 1920	c. 400 feet (120 m)	Glasgow, Scotland	Railway underground in the basement of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Operated by a battery-electric locomotive, and carried laundry. Closed following an accident in 1920, but sections of rail are still visible in the basement.
Glyn Valley Tramway	Under construction	present	unknown	Chirk	Part of the former 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in (724 mm) tramway is being rebuilt as a 2' 3" gauge line at Chirk in North Wales.^[9]
Hendra China Stone Quarry^[10]	1860s	after 1967	Unknown	Nanpean, England	Internal quarry tramway system with cable hauled inclines.
Huncoat Colliery	Unknown	1968?^[11]	Unknown	Huncoat, England	National Coal Board mine railway. One diesel was sold to the Talyllyn Railway, and runs as No. 9 Alf.^[12]^[13]
Lord quarry	1820s c. 1820s	Unknown	Unknown	Blaenau Ffestiniog	There is evidence that Lord quarry (later part of the Votty & Bowydd quarry complex) and other North Wales slate quarries used 2 ft 3 in gauge tramways in the 1820s.^[14]
Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway^[5]	1897	1899	7 miles (11.3 km)^[5]	Talybont, Wales	Short-lived line serving the lead mines around Hafan.
Ratgoed Tramway^[15]	1864	1952	1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km)	Aberllefenni, Wales	A horse-drawn tramway connected to the Corris Railway.
Quarry Close China Stone Works^[10]	1863	1973	Unknown	Nanpean, England	A network of lines connecting several quarries to the GWR branch line from Drinnick Mill.
Talyllyn Railway^[5]	1865	present	7+1⁄4 miles (11.7 km)	Tywyn, Wales	Built to carry slate from Bryn Eglwys quarry to the coast.
Upper Corris Tramway^[16]	1859	1927	1.9 miles (3.1 km)	Corris, Wales	A horse-drawn tramway connected to the Corris Railway.
York Gasworks Company^[17]	1915	1959	c. 400 feet (120 m)	York, England	Electrified railway, operated by a locomotive built by Dick, Kerr & Co.

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United States

More information Name, Opened ...

Name	Opened	Closed	Length	Location	Notes
Jazwieck’s Golfette and Trainland^[18]	1955	1994	unknown	Everett, Washington	Attraction at a mall, built using ex-mining equipment.

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A number of 700 mm (2 ft 3+9⁄16 in) gauge railways existed in Latvia, the Netherlands and Romania and several there were Cuban sugar cane railways.^[19]

Other British railways of similar, but not identical, gauge were:

Snailbeach District Railways, 2 ft 4 in (711 mm) gauge
Welbeck Colliery, Nottinghamshire, 2 ft 4 in (711 mm) gauge,^[20] which closed in 2010.^[21]
Glyn Valley Tramway, 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in (724 mm) gauge

British narrow-gauge railways

The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was also a public railway. Whether Rolt was unaware of this line, or chose to ignore it is unknown.

[1]
Spooner, Charles Easton (1879). Narrow Gauge Railways. p. 71.
[2]
Rolt, L. T. C. (1998). Railway Adventure. Sutton Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 0-330-02783-2.
[3]
Nigel S.C. Macmillan (1970). The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway. David & Charles: Newton Abbot.
[4]
"Macrihanish Online". 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
[5]
Whitehouse, Patrick & Snell, John (1984). Narrow gauge railways of the British Isles. David & Charles. ISBN 0715301969.
[6]
Keith Turner (2002). Cliff Railways of the British Isles. The Oakwood Press. p. 119.
[7]
Boyd, James I. C. (1988). The Tal-y-llyn Railway. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. p. 165. ISBN 0-906867-46-0.
[8]
Voice, David (2007). Hospital Tramways and Railways (3rd ed.). Adam Gordon. p. 43. ISBN 978 1 874422 67 9.
[9]
"GVT revival will be 2ft 3in gauge track". The Railway Magazine. December 2022. p. 70.
[10]
Dart, Maurice (2005). Cornwall Narrow Gauge including the Camborne & Redruth tramway. Middleton Press. ISBN 190447456X.
[11]
Colliery closed 1968. "The Huncoat Trails". Retrieved 7 October 2011.
[12]
Bate, J.H.L. (2001). The Chronicles of Pendre Sidings. RailRomances. pp. 158, 160. ISBN 1-900622-05-X.
[13]
Potter, D. (1990). The Talyllyn Railway. David St John Thomas. p. 202. ISBN 0-946537-50-X.
[14]
Drummond, Ian (2015). Rails Along The Fathew. Holne Publishings. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9563317-8-6.
[15]
James I. C. Boyd (1952). Narrow Gauge Rails in Mid-Wales: A Historical Survey of the Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid-Wales. Oakwood Press.
[16]
Peter Johnson (2011). An Illustrated History of the Great Western Narrow Gauge. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-86093-636-7.
[17]
Mitchell, Vic & Smith, Keith (2003). Branch Line to the Derwent Valley, including the Foss Islands Branch. Midhurst: Middleton Press. plate 24. ISBN 1-904474-06-3.
[18]
Muhlstein, Julie (19 May 2015). "Bumblebee Special, a train from Everett's past, could roll again". HeraldNet.
[19]
"Sugar Cane Railways in Cuba, 2003" (PDF).
[20]
"Industrial Narrow Gauge Railways in England". Retrieved 6 May 2014.
[21]
"Century of mining ends at Welbeck Colliery". BBC News. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2014.

[spelling-3] The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was also a public railway. Whether Rolt was unaware of this line, or chose to ignore it is unknown.

[1] [1]
Spooner, Charles Easton (1879). Narrow Gauge Railways. p. 71.

[2] [2]
Rolt, L. T. C. (1998). Railway Adventure. Sutton Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 0-330-02783-2.

[4] [3]
Nigel S.C. Macmillan (1970). The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway. David & Charles: Newton Abbot.

[5] [4]
"Macrihanish Online". 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.

[WHITEHOUSE-6] [5]
Whitehouse, Patrick & Snell, John (1984). Narrow gauge railways of the British Isles. David & Charles. ISBN 0715301969.

[7] [6]
Keith Turner (2002). Cliff Railways of the British Isles. The Oakwood Press. p. 119.

[8] [7]
Boyd, James I. C. (1988). The Tal-y-llyn Railway. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. p. 165. ISBN 0-906867-46-0.

[9] [8]
Voice, David (2007). Hospital Tramways and Railways (3rd ed.). Adam Gordon. p. 43. ISBN 978 1 874422 67 9.

[10] [9]
"GVT revival will be 2ft 3in gauge track". The Railway Magazine. December 2022. p. 70.

[CNG-11] [10]
Dart, Maurice (2005). Cornwall Narrow Gauge including the Camborne & Redruth tramway. Middleton Press. ISBN 190447456X.

[12] [11]
Colliery closed 1968. "The Huncoat Trails". Retrieved 7 October 2011.

[13] [12]
Bate, J.H.L. (2001). The Chronicles of Pendre Sidings. RailRomances. pp. 158, 160. ISBN 1-900622-05-X.

[14] [13]
Potter, D. (1990). The Talyllyn Railway. David St John Thomas. p. 202. ISBN 0-946537-50-X.

[15] [14]
Drummond, Ian (2015). Rails Along The Fathew. Holne Publishings. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9563317-8-6.

[Boyd1952-16] [15]
James I. C. Boyd (1952). Narrow Gauge Rails in Mid-Wales: A Historical Survey of the Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid-Wales. Oakwood Press.

[Johnson2011-17] [16]
Peter Johnson (2011). An Illustrated History of the Great Western Narrow Gauge. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-86093-636-7.

[18] [17]
Mitchell, Vic & Smith, Keith (2003). Branch Line to the Derwent Valley, including the Foss Islands Branch. Midhurst: Middleton Press. plate 24. ISBN 1-904474-06-3.

[19] [18]
Muhlstein, Julie (19 May 2015). "Bumblebee Special, a train from Everett's past, could roll again". HeraldNet.

[20] [19]
"Sugar Cane Railways in Cuba, 2003" (PDF).

[21] [20]
"Industrial Narrow Gauge Railways in England". Retrieved 6 May 2014.

[22] [21]
"Century of mining ends at Welbeck Colliery". BBC News. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2014.

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List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways

United Kingdom

United States

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List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways

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References